CGB’s 10^th Anniversary

14^th – 16^th February 2008

 The 10^th Anniversary committee was formed at the beginning of this academic year, and the original think-tank that I would like to thank for all the excellent ideas and suggestions that led to these two fine days are - Mr Aubrey Groves, Ms Dilek Barjolin, Ms Saffron Woodbridge, Mr Freddy Tejedor, Mr Alex Dungworth, Mr Nick Reeves and Ms Fiorella Rocha.

 

The other members of staff and students who were indirectly involved at the beginning and who later played an important role were - Ms Marcela Rojas, Ms Cristina Azcuenaga, Ms Paula Sarmiento, Ms Claudia Gomez, Mr Richard Coronado, Ms Andrea Cardozo and Ms Viviana Dimate.

 

The two-day celebrations started off with a concert hosted by Ms Elizabeth Parot (Y12) and Mr Cameron Davis (Y1B). Our CGB choir and musicians performed the National Anthems for Britain and Colombia, but little did the audience know that it was their first ever attempt, and that they practised extremely hard for it. They were also very nervous as on this day, the Vice President of Colombia, Mr Francisco Santos, was in attendance and was seated right in front of them. All in all, the performance was excellent and we’re proud to see our students achieve so much from their once a week Music lesson!

 

This was followed by many performances, speeches and awards, but the highlights were definitely the touching speeches by Mr Andres Fernandez and Ms Ana Maria Fernandez, the cumbia performance by our very own CGB staff and of course, the surprise on Mr Nicholas Reeves’ face when he also received an award for his special dedication to the school. The CGB rock band accompanied by Ms Maria Jose Vaca (Y12) on the canvas also impressed many. Maria Jose’s ability to just draw on the spot really astounds!

 

Up in the classroom corridors, in the cafeteria, the theatre foyer and within the theatre, our CGB Art Exhibition was also underway. I can only describe the show as “spectacular”!

 

The second day of the celebrations started off with our annual Fun Day where parents, students and teachers had to answer many interesting questions pertaining to CGB in the treasure hunt event. It was then when our CGB family got closer as the Houses had to find out the name of the youngest student in CGB, the number of white spots that Polo, our “mascot”, has, as well as the surname for Ms Reeves’ wife, Carolina, amongst others!

The Fun Day festivities were followed by the more formal Time Capsule ceremony, CGB Powerpoint presentation and of course, the exciting visit from the US Ambassador to Colombia, Mr William Brownfield.

 

The turnout for this special day was amazing, unfortunately the rain came and Plan B had to be carried out. All parents and students were moved into the hall, the powerpoint set-up was relocated to a spot within the hall, the rostrum, flags and time capsule contents were also carried inside. At the same time, the CGB maintenance staff carried three tents from the field to the terrace while the band and sound people covered the speakers, kept the instruments and set up a microphone for the ceremony which would now be held inside.

 

It’s amazing how so much could have been accomplished in such a short time and with such efficiency. What a family CGB is! Everyone who could help out lent every other person a hand, even our board member and US Embassy representative, Mr Robert Cochran!

 

Our hosts for the day, Ms Manuela Hosie (Y11) and Mr Michael Mc Loughlin (Y6F) then took over and all was well once more – as if the rain never came and that the original plan was to have the ceremony within the hall.

 

Mr Brownfield impressed us all with his speech and his excellent sense of humour. Both parents and students, who expected someone more austere, were pleasantly surprised.

 

The rest of the evening saw the inaugurations of our Interactive Whiteboard, seven of which were donated by Schlumberger, along with the Translation System which was donated by our very own PTA, the very touching movie of CGB through the ages, the cake-cutting by Mr Brownfield and most importantly, the Time Capsule ceremony. Each class contributed to the contents of the time capsule – memories, dreams, goals and more were sealed into the capsule – to be opened in 10 years’ time.

 

I hope that everyone has enjoyed and reminisced with us during these two days of celebrations, and I look forward to returning for the opening of our memory-filled time capsule.

 

Ms Kemmy Lim

10^th Anniversary Organiser.